Chance to celebrate LGBT History Month at Leeds City Museum

Popular films showcasing the exciting history of the city’s LGBT community will be screened at Leeds City Museum this month.

The free event on February 18 has been organised as part of the city’s celebrations for LGBT History Month, which this year marks the 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in England.

The museum will also be hosting community and support groups from across the city, who will be setting up stalls and talking about the work they do, how to get involved and how to get access to important services.

During the event, which runs from 11am until 3pm, films screened at past Leeds Queer Film Festivals will be shown on the museum’s big screen and a panel discussion about local LGBT history will also take place.

Visitors will also have the chance to take part in a film-making workshop, make their own lo-fi animation, have a go at making clay pendants and put together their own magazines.

And one of the highlights of the day will see the programme for this year’s Leeds Queer Film Festival released, with advance passes for the March 24-26 event on sale.

Councillor James Lewis, Leeds City Council’s LGBT champion, said: “It’s always inspiring to see the passionate and enthusiastic way that Leeds embraces LGBT History Month each and every year as more and more organisations and communities get involved.

“Leeds is an inclusive city with a vibrant LGBT community that makes a fantastic contribution to our cultural identity and that’s something we’re very proud of.

“The museum is the perfect place to celebrate the history of our LGBT community, to look back on some of the important milestones that have been accomplished over the years and to take stock of how far we have come together as a city.”

Leeds efforts to mark LGBT History Month began in style, with a number of city centre buildings, including the Merrion Centre, the First Direct Arena and Leeds Town Hall lighting up in pink on Feb 1.

The buildings will light up again on Feb 28 to mark the end of the month-long celebrations.

Leeds is bidding for the title of European Capital of Culture 2023. The competition can only be hosted by UK five times per century and was last hosted in 2008 when Liverpool won the title. Prior to this Glasgow is the only other city to have the competition in 1990.

Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture 2008 is estimated to have resulted in an economic impact of £750 million and opinion surveys showing an 85% increase in satisfaction from the local residents when asked if they liked living in the city.

The Leeds bid is being led by and Independent Steering Group which has cross party support from Leeds City Council. Leeds City Council is already a minority funder of the bid with commercial partners and sponsorship contributing to the cost of bidding.

The bid process takes four years with Leeds starting conversations about bidding in 2014 and expecting a decision in 2018.

The competition is delivered by the European Commission but not specifically for EU Countries. Norway, Iceland and Switzerland are all outside of the EU and have all hosted successful European Capitals of Culture. The competition is administered in the UK by the Department for Culture Media & Sport (DCMS)

Two cities host the competition each year. In 2023 one UK city and one Hungarian city will host the title. Current European Capitals of Culture are Aarhus in Denmark and Pafos in Cyprus.